


My Star; Your Sky

by littledust



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-19
Updated: 2014-02-19
Packaged: 2018-01-13 02:58:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1210174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littledust/pseuds/littledust
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There are weeks when they don't talk. They don't need to anymore. (Post-Mockingjay, pre-epilogue.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	My Star; Your Sky

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pocky_slash](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pocky_slash/gifts).



> This probably isn't the couple you were thinking of when you said "established relationship domesticity," but I felt inspired. ♥ TItle from "Boats and Birds" by Gregory and the Hawk.

There are weeks when they don't talk. They don't need to anymore.

It surprises Katniss that Peeta can fade into days of silence. She thought she knew him down to the atoms (the atoms she helped rebuild) and would have pegged him as the type to fill her silences, never asking for a response. She does like the sound of his voice, whether it's calling her to dinner, crying out in pleasure, or rising and falling in the rhythms of everyday conversation. Given the choice between listening to Peeta and any other living person in the world, she would choose Peeta.

But he goes quiet when she does. Katniss doesn't talk much to begin with. People can take your words all the time, twist them around until you don't even know what you meant to say in the first place. They can take your image, too, but it's harder when you say nothing. At first Katniss assumes the nightmares are responsible for Peeta's sudden silence, which she only notices after a few days pass. She would ask about it, but she doesn't know what she would do if he says nothing in response. If this is more than a simple withdrawing, though there's nothing simple about their mental landscapes anymore. You could get lost there and never come out.

Still, Peeta catches her watching him over breakfast, one of the rare mornings she's not out of the house by dawn. He smiles and reaches across the table; she transfers her spoon to the other hand and reaches out to grip his hand with her dominant one. _If you need an anchor,_ she would say if she were any good with words. Peeta squeezes her hand and his shoulders visibly relax. Katniss has to smile as well, seeing him so at peace. It's then that she knows that he's all right, that they're all right. Sunlight pouring through the window can disappear, home itself can vanish in a puff of ash, but here they are, caught in the midst of a comfortable silence.

Like so many aspects of their relationship, it's a result of the Games. Conveying information with one or two facial tics is a survival skill. The ugliness of the skill's origin doesn't make the quiet any less peaceful. They touch each other more often now, casual brushes of the hand that speak of affection no camera needs to see. Peeta teaches her how to bake bread, his hands steady against hers, and the only words they need are laughter.

Katniss finds a rock perfect for stargazing, a boulder no doubt shifted by the bombings. She brings Peeta there one summer night. It's sun-warm underneath their backs, a reminder of day in the middle of the night. The stars wink in the sky like pure white candle flames. As she stares up, Katniss thinks of Prim. It will always hurt. Sometimes there's a trace of joy with the pain, like when Katniss sees something beautiful. She closes her eyes, watching the stars wheel under her eyelids, and sends her sensory impression to the past, where Prim awaits her smiling and unchanged.

When she opens her eyes again, Peeta rolls onto his side. His fingers are gentle as he wipes her eyes. She catches his hand and presses it against her mouth. It tastes like salt, will always taste faintly of flour. They've had sexual encounters start this way before, but here, all she wants is the intimacy. Peeta seems to know, if the way he leans over and kisses her forehead is any indication. She resettles herself against him with a soft sigh.

Maybe one of them will say something tomorrow. Maybe someone will visit and they'll have to talk. Whatever happens tomorrow, Katniss knows that tonight they won't need words to find their way home.


End file.
